Tuesday 29 November 2011

IT graduates – are you ready for boot camp?

If you’re a talented IT graduate with an entrepreneurial spirit, then Wales needs you. According to the BBC news website, Welsh business tycoon, Sir Terry Matthews is recruiting for his ‘boot camp’ to encourage young graduates to develop new information technology products of the future.
The project is run by a charity foundation called Alacrity and funded by the Welsh government and business donors. The ten graduates, to be chosen from any university in the UK, will all live together for a year in order to work together more closely and share ideas.
Sir Terry explains "It provides a unique collaboration between leading higher education institutions, global technology companies and investors, enabling our brightest graduates the necessary skills and training to innovate in technology and create new businesses".
To see if you’re ready for this Welsh hi-tech boot camp, read the complete article at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15825507 or apply via Alacrity’s website www.alacrityfoundation.com

Monday 21 November 2011

Does every cloud have a silver lining?

Does every cloud really have a silver lining? There are undoubtedly many benefits for a lot of companies in using cloud service providers, or CSPs, offering the potential to save money in maintaining IT services. With any new development in the IT industry however, there are other areas of the company business to consider.
Simon Brazier, from Willans law firm based in Cheltenham, urges companies, and their IT managers to look carefully at cloud computing and data security. In his article on the company's website "Cloud computing - how safe is it from a legal perspective?" he discusses areas such as data protection, within and outside the U.K. as well as the service terms offered by suppliers. The article also discusses the benefits of being up in the clouds such as resource pooling and on-demand self-service for users. Just make sure your all-important data is secure. www.willans.co.uk

Monday 14 November 2011

Demand for IT staff bucking national trend

Demand for IT professionals may be bucking the trend according to a recent report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
Each job sector is given a score on an index where more than 50 indicates a growth in demand for staff; permanent IT staff scored 57.2 with IT contractors slightly lower but still positive. According to the REC's website, REC Technology Chair, Jeff Bridges, said “Information technology is striking that, even at a time when the UK economy as a whole appears to be wobbling, demand for qualified IT professionals remains healthy...jobs of the future will be in technical, highly-skilled areas such as IT."
Another report out this week from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development does predict further medium term job losses in many sectors. With its more positive news for information technology professionals, the REC research reports that "IT is one of the few areas of the economy providing real, long-term employment opportunities." See more at http://www.rec.uk.com/press/news/1852

Tuesday 8 November 2011

The changing role of the information technology team

Information technology managers will increasingly need to become more involved in the customer experience within their companies, according to an article in Computer World UK magazine this week.
The article includes quotes from Forrester principal analyst Derek Miers “Instead of ‘doing IT to someone’, that is to say imposing a system or process on someone, IT departments will increasingly be expected to authorise and help deliver the systems called for by different departments,” says Miers. To do this information technology managers will need to become more involved in the “ever more advanced art of the customer experience” to deliver the systems that the business requires. For more information about how this could change the emphasis of roles in your information technology teams read Computer World UK’s article “Forrester: IT staff role in customer experience will change.” www.computerworlduk.com